Close Post Offices as infection chances high: NFPE

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Close Post Offices as infection chances high: NFPE

Sunday, 29 March 2020 | PNS | BHUBANESWAR

National Federation of Postal Employees (NFPE) , Odisha unit chairman Bruhaspati Samal has urged the Postal Directorate and Government of India to take immediate action for suspension of Post and RMS offices till restoration of normalcy in the wake of the lockdown clamped for COVID-19.

He said only the bigger post offices like General Post Office, Head Post Office and Mukhya Dak Ghars may be opened in skeletal mode with minimum number of staff on roster basis keeping in view the guidelines of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Unicef and WHO with full preventive measures to provide the basic services. And this can only help to maintain social distancing and contain spread of COVID-19.

Samal said in Odisha, out of 8,172 post offices, all the 6,976 Rural Branch Post Offices and all bigger offices like Mukhya Dak Ghar, Head Post Office, General Post Office numbering 220 are ordered to be kept open. While use of biometric devices has been dispensed with by Government of India, in a recent order issued by the department on March 25, the department has emphasized to ensure financial transactions in biometric mode and for booking and delivery of accountable articles.

The federation said that there is higher risk of infection as 25,000 postal employees working in 8,172 post offices across Odisha are interacting with hundreds of

customers daily in each post office at the counters and handling lakhs of mails coming from various sources including foreign mails.

The condition is same for 5 lakh postal employees in 1.55 lakh post offices across the country. The federation said that opening the postal services and booking of articles is meaningless at a time when there is absence of any transport facility including rail, air and road.

Besides for cash transactions, ATMs would come handy and there is no need to open any Post Office, he added.

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